Moonfire

Chapter 9

Thursday, October 30th, 11:40pm

I stand inside the porch, readying myself to contain my Moonfire as soon as I walk out the door. I can feel the ghost of the string, in its normal state, making my hands glow. I walk outside and pull hard on the string. I can see the Moonfire fill the backyard for a split second, before it condenses into the tiny egg in my palm. I sigh in frustration and head back inside for another attempt.

I had been trying for fifteen minutes, and though I had gotten better, I still couldn't do it. I try again for the same result as last time, and stomp my foot in frustration. My eyes widen as I remember what happened last time I got frustrated, and I pull back on my Moonfire as hard as I can. The egg expands to the size of my fist and swirls a bit, but I get it under control. I relax, panting. That was close.

I walk back inside and sit down on one of the small couches. What am I doing wrong? I look down at my hands, glowing as always. Even if I'm not in the direct moonlight, it still affects me. I frown in concentration. Surely there's a way to stop the glow, too.

I sit up as I realize something. I can feel the ghost of my power inside me, so I must be able to at least slightly control it. I can shrink my Moonfire before I even go outside!

I take a breath and pull gently. The glow in my hands dims. Confident now, I pull harder, and the room plummets into semi-darkness, the faint moonlight the only thing lighting it up now. I grin. Finally, I know what to do.

I walk outside, not letting go of the string. It strengthens its pull, but I resist, until I'm standing in the middle of the backyard with no Moonfire in sight.

Grinning broadly, I try again, and I can still do it. I'll still be winging it tomorrow, since the moonlight will be gradual, and not all at once, but at least I know I can always contain it. I head back inside and lay down on my bed, excited to tell Aelia what I've learned.

I sit up on the bench in the Moonwater courtyard, and hear noise coming from the direction of the communication room. Curious, I walk through the hallways and peer through the doorway. Aelia is standing on the platform, and Gloria is pacing next to her. A woman is standing in a circle about halfway across the room. I guess she's another star.

I don't get a chance to hear what they are saying before the woman waves and disappears. Aelia steps down from the platform and Gloria stops pacing. Aelia notices me first.

"Hello, Luna," Aelia greets me. Gloria turns around and gives me a half-hearted smile. I blink. In the time I've known her, Gloria has always been cheerful. It's odd that she's not right now.

"Hi," I respond to Aelia, directing my response to both of them.

"We just got out of a meeting with Ember," Aelia answers my unspoken question.

"The Purestars are coming for us now," Gloria takes over the conversation, her tone dead. She resumes her pacing around the room. "We need to prepare." She turns back toward Aelia and looks her in the eye. "Train her."

Aelia nods, a faint shimmer of worry in her eyes. I catch a glimpse of Gloria turning back toward the platform, a determined expression on her face before the world is dissolved in a cloud of silver.

We aren't in the same spot that we normally appear in. I can see a building somewhat nearby. It looks similar to the Sun-Mother's temple but smaller and more curved.

Aelia starts walking briskly toward the temple, beckoning me to follow. I don't know what type of training she's going to give me, and I'm slightly nervous.

Aelia walks up the stairs and goes into a room to the side of the main hallway. I look around. There's a big window on the left side of the room that lets in a lot of the silver light outside. There's a door on the far side, and otherwise it's empty.

Aelia goes over to the door and pulls out a big wooden block about the size of a person. She maneuvers it so it's at the center of the far wall, then walks back to stand next to me.

"What have you accomplished with your Moonfire so far?" Aelia asks.

"I can pretty easily make it disappear, and one time I managed to make a fire tornado thing."

Aelia nods. "I'm going to teach you attacks," she says. "You might need them." She gestures toward the block. "I can show you first if you want."

I nod, and Aelia turns her gaze to the block. A jet of silver water comes out of her outstretched hand and soaks the wood, lacing it with silver. It went so fast!

Aelia looks to me. "Try shooting your Moonfire at it. Anger will probably be the emotion you're looking for here."

I nod at her, and try to focus on being angry. Since I'll probably be fighting the Purestars, I direct my anger at them. They are destroying stars just because they are jealous, probably. I imagine them hurting my family and friends, Gloria and Aelia. I close my eyes and try to direct my anger at the block by moving my Moonfire toward it.

The Moonfire rockets from its place by my feet towards the wooden block, hitting it with a smack that echoes through the room. I step back, panting. The feeling is similar to when I made the fire tornado.

"Good!" Aelia praises. I look at the block and see a large burn mark where my Moonfire hit it. It has sparks of silver like the burn mark in the grass. It's weird and kind of frightening to know that my Moonfire can cause actual damage.

"What did it feel like?" Aelia asks. I think back on how the Moonfire rocketed.

"Kind of like... It was pushing out," I reply. It was the opposite of pulling it into the egg.

"You've been able to pull your Moonfire in, so do you think you can push it out instead of using the emotion?" Aelia asks.

"I think so," I frown in concentration, looking inward to my Moonfire string. It's in its normal state, slightly bunched up. I push on it a little bit, forcing it to stretch out. In response, my Moonfire ripples towards the block, the majority in front of me instead of in a circle around me. It's a start, but I need to shoot it at the block again.

I let the elasticy string go back to its normal state, then push on it harder and more forcefully. The Moonfire shoots forward, hitting the block, but not as powerful as before.

"Well done!" Aelia compliments. "Do you think you could make it go faster?"

I nod. If I can just push harder... I look back at my Moonfire string and try again. It goes faster, not quite as powerful as the first time, but definitely an improvement.

"Can you try from it being condensed?" Aelia asks. She's really not letting up.

"Sure." I bring my Moonfire into an egg, and without realizing it, the egg doesn't go onto my palm, it's inside my palm. A dense silver spot just underneath the surface. My Moonfire really is part of me, I think. It feels natural.

I go back to the task at hand and try pushing on the Moonfire, but it's harder than I thought it would be. It's difficult to go from really condensed to stretched out in half a second. I can see how it would be more powerful, I just need to figure out how to do it.

I try again and again, but most of the time my Moonfire just flops in front of my feet. I stifle my frustration, not wanting another fire tornado.

Eventually, Aelia stops me, laying her hand on my shoulder. "I think it's time for you to go," she says. I realize how tired I am. I look up and nod at her, and she sends me back to earth in the familiar swirl of silver.

(Hello

I'm sorry I haven't written for a while. I got stuck.

Plus I was writing another story that I randomly came up with. I have too many story ideas. I'm working on this one and then another one and then one with 2 of my friends. 

I decided to add times and dates on the beginning of the chapters for notes to myself and notes to you what day/time it is cause it kinda gets confusing (oops)

So there will be a lot of updates there

Also I'm almost to the 1st really interesting part which is followed by the interesting section, so yay.

-Penguin)

(1482 words)